BRECKENRIDGE — The road to Sochi begins this weekend in Summit County, with the fifth annual Dew Tour luring the biggest names in snowboarding and freeskiing.

In the last full season before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the young guns are looking to bump the icons while the stalwarts will be defending their hard-earned thrones. The only winter Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships results are anything but predictable, but one thing is certain: The tricks will be bigger than ever as athletes begin their fight for Olympic glory in the first contest of the season.

"The door is open. You just have to work hard. You have to work harder than them," said Zack Black, a 22-year-old snowboarder who is one of nine Breckenridge athletes competing in the Dew Tour this weekend. "Anyone can come from anywhere and win."

Shaun White returns to Breckenridge with hopes of repeating last year's win in the snowboard superpipe. Louie Vito and Iouri Podlachikov are looking to unseat the perennial champion.

Kelly Clark, the legend who can count her recent losses with a single mittened hand, will be sharing a similar battle as she looks to continue her dominance in the pipe.

Skiers, gunning for their first Olympic show in the pipe in 2014, are rallying in Breckenridge as the field remains wide open for Sochi. Will veterans Simon Dumont and Tanner Hall be able to claw back from injuries to shed the cadre of up-and-coming rippers? France's Kevin Rolland is working to continue his gold medal streak and threepeat in the Dew Tour pipe.

American snowboarders were skunked on the slopestyle course last year, with Norwegian Gjermund Braaten earning gold for the men and Canadian Spencer O'Brien defeating two-time women's champion Jamie Anderson, who failed to podium.

For the up-and-comers, Dew is the launching pad — an opportunity countless hours in the making.

"If you aren't going 110 percent every day, every single contest, you aren't going anywhere," said Breckenridge competitor Brett Esser.